Fireworks 2016

Rob said:

You can't start turning away those that have pre-booked a ticket for a specific date - that would be woeful customer service and make a mockery of pre-booking your ticket (which Alton Towers would rather you did as they then have a better idea of guest numbers for any given day). Annual pass holders have no more rights to entry than those that have paid money for a ticket.

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To be fair, I didn't say that Annual Pass holders should have more rights than people who booked a subsidized ticket online, I said they should have had an equal right of entry, and I stick to it. Also, I find it equally woeful customer service that a family of Merlin Pass holders could be turned away after a couple of hours drive there. Basically, Towers/Merlin messed up for their pass-holders by prioritizing one group of customers over another (good for their own interests though, so who cares). Premium pass holders not feeling too premium the other night I would expect!

Some pics for those who werent there.
https://goo.gl/photos/qZu6FueYxhKRmbsh8

Just to report back on my first ever visit to Alton Towers.....

With little 'uns in tow we launched straight into the CBeebies bit, and jumped at the chance to get our hands on Justin's balls as the sign said it was only a 20-minute wait. Inside we go.....to queue for an hour. Because this was my first time, I obviously put too much stock in the ride waiting time signs . As a double-whammy, when we got to front of the queue we were told that the sessions had been shortened to get people through quickly. Thankfully, 7 minutes was more than long enough to stand there getting pelted by foam balls.

After that we only had time to queue and go on the Night Garden boat, which the littlest of our group wanted to do. So now it was time for fireworks - we'd been there over 2 hours but had only managed to squeeze in two kids attractions.

We perched somewhere near the entrance to CBeebies land, as it looked absolutely crammed down towards the grass. We got a good uninterrupted view though, and the sound was excellent.

The show itself was amazing, and the nod to Bowie was quite emotional for me. By far my favourite bit of the display, and for me they could've just staged 20 minutes of fireworks to Bowie music and I'd have been happy.

The 'ITHOTMK' finale was great I thought, although if I could have changed it slightly I would have had the annoying kid on the screen burn up in the atmopshere on the way back in.

There was then a bit of chaos as we had to move against the tide of everyone moving towards the exit. We ended up in a Pirate-themed area after getting snagged in a massive queue - which I presume was for people trying to get back into one of the closed areas after the show.

A quick look around the Sea Life centre was followed by a slow walk back to the car via a few other 'zones' - I think we eventually left the park somewhere past the Galactica ride on a path that led to the crazy golf. It certainly wasn't the way we came in (or planned to leave) but it was quite handy in the end.

I didn't go on any of the rides because of the queues (or they were closed), so I'm going to have to do 'that' version of Alton Towers another day.

My only problem overall was that there was nowhere to spend my money! Every single kiosk that was dispensing something hot to eat or drink was completely overrun with people. I wasn't about to queue for 40 minutes just to get a coffee. You'd think that they could've put far more refreshments options in place, as they must have known it was going to be a near capacity job.

The journey home was very easy. Due to our late arrival we were parked quite near the exit, and the road kicked us out just where we wanted to be. Everyone seemed to be heading to the motorway, so our trip back to Leek was virtually traffic free.

Great memories and I'll definitely be back.

BarryZola said:

To be fair, I didn't say that Annual Pass holders should have more rights than people who booked a subsidized ticket online, I said they should have had an equal right of entry, and I stick to it. Also, I find it equally woeful customer service that a family of Merlin Pass holders could be turned away after a couple of hours drive there. Basically, Towers/Merlin messed up for their pass-holders by prioritizing one group of customers over another (good for their own interests though, so who cares). Premium pass holders not feeling too premium the other night I would expect!

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But if the park is at capacity what are you meant to do? Let in the family and breach whatever H&S guidelines that they have? Yes pre-booked ticket holders were given a priority in that respect but with the system in place this year that is fair enough.

It's clearly been a big issue this year though so I would support a booking system for MAP holders next year at a cost of £1 or £2.

RoyJess said:

Had a lovely couple of days on the Park.

Yes very busy, but I manage to get on all the rides I wanted to. Yes people were turned away, but this has happened in the past with previous fireworks events and it was clearly posted on their website that anyone who has not pre-booked their tickets would not be guaranteed entry after 3pm. I even copied and posted it on here a few weeks ago.

IMO this year Fireworks were the best that they have put on ever, (however you still couldn't beat last year's ITHOMK/Hex mash up finally).

The rapid was closed after dark and what I've been told, the rapids will not open again for any after dark events. Next years dates have not been finalised and is a long way off, so anything can happen, but there is not any reason for the fireworks event not to return as it is a very popular event and they are very hopeful for the return of it as a 3 day event.

Like me did anyone stay at Flood landings over the weekend? Was any one affected by the burst water pipe which happened around 9.30 Sat night and again Sun 7.30 morning on level 4? It was raining into a few rooms and from the corridor ceiling. Our room was far away from where it happened. So we were not affected apart from walking down the corridor and the water pressure in our room was very poor.

There were a lot of meets up over the weekend and I bumped into the FB MAP holder group, roller coaster club forum thingy, themepark would wide group, Tower Times, but the only Tower Street that I had the pleasure to meet was Delta79.

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The water pipe in splash makes a lot of sence now. It sounds like quite a lot of people who had regular rooms in splash were upgraded to moon voyage rooms (including me ), and that could be why.

Thought the fireworks were really good, easily the best show I've seen. Not sure about the "flying" scenes, but overall I enjoyed it. Whether it was intended or not, I did like the fact that the story did relate to both (arguably) new rides this year, with the finale seeming similar to the theme of spinball.

Operations across the park were appalling though. It was taking at least six minutes to load and dispatch Galactica, sometimes longer. At least half the train didn't wear a headset, and I queued more than half an hour from the bridge.

Very busy, but thanks to a priority pass that I got earlier in the season, I managed to do the smiler in the dark without much of a wait.

And as far as seeing enthusiasts, I saw people from here walking around the park and outside dragon bar in the evening. Even my dad realized that you were enthusiasts due to someone wearing a swarm hoodie and some people in fright nights hoodies.

Rob said:

But if the park is at capacity what are you meant to do?

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Not let the AP holders in as the park is full. Then when the pre-booked ticket holders turn up, they don't let them in either as the park is full. A pretty simple system which will leave both groups unhappy, as opposed to just one. The reason they decided to take it out on AP holders I would assume is that they would have had to refund people who paid for a ticket online, whereas the AP holders would not cost them any money to turn away. People can dress it up any way they want, but this had to be part of the decision making process. If I had been turned away on that night as an AP holder when they were still letting others in I would not drop this with Merlin until I received a large discount on my next AP or something similar. Annual Pass holders got done the other night, and I don't understand why people are trying to defend it.

Ultimately, its written into the terms and conditions of the Annual Pass. It clearly says you will gain entry except where the park has reached capacity and is full, whereas a pre-paid ticket almost guarantees entry because the ticket counts as one of those numbers going towards the capacity of the park.

As others have said, the only thing AT could have done Saturday was turn away AP holders. In future, they need to either bring back the 3 nights of fireworks to balance out numbers of guests or introduce a booking system for AP holders, at a charge to ensure they turn up!

BarryZola said:

Not let the AP holders in as the park is full. Then when the pre-booked ticket holders turn up, they don't let them in either as the park is full. A pretty simple system which will leave both groups unhappy, as opposed to just one. The reason they decided to take it out on AP holders I would assume is that they would have had to refund people who paid for a ticket online, whereas the AP holders would not cost them any money to turn away. People can dress it up any way they want, but this had to be part of the decision making process. If I had been turned away on that night as an AP holder when they were still letting others in I would not drop this with Merlin until I received a large discount on my next AP or something similar. Annual Pass holders got done the other night, and I don't understand why people are trying to defend it.

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The park made a lot of mistakes on Saturday but turning away MAP holders was not one of them. If the park capacity is say 25,000 and they have 24,000 in the park with a further 1,000 known pre-booked ticket holders to turn up then the park is at capacity and no other guests, other than those 1,000 who have pre-booked to be there, will be allowed in. I do get what you are saying in terms of it's not entirely fair as MAP holders had no way of pre-booking. However that was the system in place and it was the only thing they could reasonably do.

I've not read the MAP T&Cs but I'm pretty sure they are covered in terms of turning people away when parks hit capacity.

Towers were totally underprepared for such a busy day at the park and I don't think they quite realised just how busy it was going to be until very recently. You would like to hope that they have learnt lessons from this for next year.

GaryH said:

Ultimately, its written into the terms and conditions of the Annual Pass. It clearly says you will gain entry except where the park has reached capacity and is full, whereas a pre-paid ticket almost guarantees entry because the ticket counts as one of those numbers going towards the capacity of the park.

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Taken from Merlin website

http://www.merlinannualpass.co.uk/terms.aspx

An Annual Pass will not guarantee immediate entry to any Attraction. At Attractions which allocate individual time slots for entry, Standard Merlin Annual Pass holders are required to book an available time slot in advance in order to guarantee entry to the Attraction. Premium Merlin Annual Pass holders are not required to book a time slot in advance in order to guarantee entry to the Attraction; however, entry shall be subject always to the Attraction not being at full capacity. Please note that all time slots are subject to availability and so to guarantee a specific time slot, booking in advance is strongly recommended. Annual Pass holders are able to book an available time slot online by visiting the relevant Attraction’s website, however a small fee will apply. If a Standard Merlin Annual Pass holder does not book a time slot in advance, they are not guaranteed entry to the Attraction and must present their Annual Pass at the box office on the day of their visit and choose an available time slot.

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I understand the points you're all making and they do have some substance, however, I personally think it stinks a bit and I think AP holders are missing a trick if they don't play their faces and try to get some form of compo if they were turned away the other night (yes, I know, it's in the terms and conditions, but terms and conditions can be ignored to deliver good customer service and keep a customer happy, with regards to compo). If you've turned up the other night and been turned away whilst they were still allowing others in and you are just going to accept that situation, then you're playing yourself short and giving in way too easily. I don't think I have anything further to add to this discussion now

I do feel sorry for MAP holders who couldn't get in on Saturday but there is a simple solution - MAP holders are advised to buy tickets in advance at the standard rate and then they could be issued with a full refund at the park. That means Towers know how many visitors to expect and they do not lose out financially if they reserve a place for a MAP holder who doesn't turn up on the day.

Considering normal ticket holders were offered a £20 dodgy discount on a visit next year if they were turned away then AP customers should be able to argue their case for a bit of Compo.

My argument isn't about turning MAP holders away its more of the fact MAP holders either had to turn up early or risk it as there was no way to prebook that imo is ridiculous
After I sent an email to Towers they replied saying at one point everyone was being turned away MAP holders and prebooked guests.
Which to me says too many tickets was available to buy in the first place
I guess the problem with MAPS is the inability to predict numbers but this would all be solved by a prebooking system got everybody imo.
Yes people will moan but there will always be people moaning that's guaranteed.


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Did anyone hear about the hotels? There was chaos there too.

Apparently security staff had been put on the doors and were turning away all non residents.

The whole place is an absolute shambles.

I'm sure you all know the McDonalds nearest to Alton Towers (just off a roundabout with a petrol station) anyways drove past it around 8:45 and the place was packed, drive through queue even worse. What was it like getting out the park?

I heard they only had the one bar open in ATH, and the queue for the Dragon Bar went out of the bar, through the atrium, past the ship, out the rear doors, past the cast iron seating outside, to the left of the pond, around the pond, circled a few ducks, up the steps to the balcony, up to the second floor, through the doors, down the steps by SGR and back to the bar. Phew!

Croftybaby said:

Considering normal ticket holders were offered a £20 dodgy discount on a visit next year if they were turned away then AP customers should be able to argue their case for a bit of Compo.

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Oh I don't doubt that, and I'm sure Towers/Merlin will throw some fastrack or something the way of annual passholders that do complain. But I do think Towers were right to turn them away with the set up they had this year. The solution is to make everyone pre-book.

This is an argument that could go round and round in circles. Towers have most likely learnt some lessons from this year. If something similar happened next year with no change, then yes, that's a big problem. The park hasn't hit capacity to this scale in years, so it's not like they were prime and ready for what was coming because it hasn't happened for a very long time.

The Saturday fireworks is always the busiest day of the year. I'm a pass holder and we knew if we turned up later in the day, we might not got in. So we got in first thing without any problems on both days.

Would pre-booking solve the problem? There will still be people that will turn up not realising that you have to pre-book. The disable viewing you have to pre-book and that has been like it for the last two years. The disable viewing was fully booked before the event, yet many people still turned up to gain access to the disable viewing not realising that you had to pre booked. Many wheelchair users were turned away and had to find alternative viewing spots around the park. Despite the platform being fully booked up, only half of the wheelchair users that had pre-booked a space actually turned up. So for the last two years, the viewing platform was only half full. This meant that some people got turned away for nothing.

Another concern would be like pop concerts and high profile sport events, and that all the pre-booked tickets gets snapped up withing minutes of going live on line, only to re-emerge on the internet at over inflated prices.

The decision to open for only two days was made way in advance, so they had to make the most of a very bad situation. Hopefully, they'll learn from it. That one extra day really makes all the difference.

And regarding the hotels, I don't see how they had much alternative if they were in possible danger of overcrowding. Turning non hotel guests away on extremely busy nights makes sense. Although not opening the Captain's bar was just a disaster waiting to happen.